Reviewing the Senior Review
For most people outside the space industry, and maybe even some inside it, “senior review” sounds like some kind of final exam before graduation. For those involved in NASA science missions, the stakes are even...
Bolden’s Farewell Tour
For probably the final time, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has run the congressional gauntlet. Over the course of eight days in March, Bolden testified at three hearings about NASA’s 2017 budget request.
T...
Making Space a Non-issue this Election Year
Marco Rubio had the perfect stage last month to talk about space policy, had he wanted to. A Feb. 27 campaign stop in Huntsville, Alabama, brought the Florida senator, running for the Republican presidential no...
Preparing for the next Carrington event
Those concerned about the hazards posed by near Earth objects often bring up the Tunguska event, a massive June 1908 explosion in Siberia caused by a meteor airburst. Those worried about space weather, by compa...
Mission Authorized
Companies, in general, aren’t fans of additional regulation, particularly anything that would make it harder or more expensive to do business.
However, some in the commercial space industry are embracing a con...
Space policy’s coast phase
NASA has used its budget requests in recent years to announce new programs and even wholesale changes in policy.
Three years ago, its budget request unveiled what became known as the Asteroid Redirect Mission,...
Reusability Isn’t Here – Yet
ORBCOMM-2 First-stage landing. Credit: SpaceXFor many, the end of 2015 marked the beginning of a new era in space access.
On Dec. 21, SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 first stage back at Cape C...
The Real Winners of the Commercial Space Bill
Commercial space policy rarely grabs the attention of the mainstream media. Yet, in December, the New York Post felt compelled to sing the praises of the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, signed...